


In Which Three Robots Are Awful At Babysitting And A Child Is Startlingly Good At Climbing Through Vents

by Maxiobe



Category: OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes
Genre: I swear this isn’t a ripoff of villains night in, Lord Boxman/Professor Venomous (Implied), i drafted this in august before the episode so like, its not the main focus of the fic so im not gonna tag it in the relationships field, pls be gentle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-16
Updated: 2017-11-16
Packaged: 2019-02-03 04:35:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12741126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maxiobe/pseuds/Maxiobe
Summary: Shannon, Darrell, and Raymond find out just how incapable they are of watching a child. (Who knew Fink could climb through vents that well?)





	In Which Three Robots Are Awful At Babysitting And A Child Is Startlingly Good At Climbing Through Vents

**Author's Note:**

> me, watching the preview for Villains’ Night In: so i could either just drop the draft for that one oneshot that’s startligly similar to this episode.... or i could stay up all night rewriting and editing the entire thing so i can post it before the episode airs
> 
> wink wonk im super tired but this was really fun to go back to tbh

* * *

“Would you three say you’re responsible?”

Shannon, Darrell, and Raymond exchange quick looks as Boxman scrutinizes them from behind his desk. The mechanic‘s out-of-the-blue questions weren’t exactly uncommon, but the question still catches them offhand somewhat; they all seem to come to an unspoken agreement and nod quickly.

”Yes.”

”Of course.”

”Absolutely.”

”Okay, point - point taken,” Boxman sighs. “I’m only asking because tonight I happen to have a meeting with a client—”

“You’re going on another date with Venomous?” Raymond asks in a borderline-deadpan tone. Boxman flushes, glaring at him.

” _Nosy_ — No, of course not!  _Professor_ Venomous and I are just going out to discuss shipments. Which brings me to my next point. He hesitates. “I don’t know if his...  _minion_ is able to stay on her own.”

”You don’t mean...”

”If he brings her here, I want you three on your best behavior while we’re out. Keep her out of trouble.”

More looks are exchanged, this time more frantic. “I really don’t think—”

The doorbell rings and Boxman startles. “Ah, um, I may have forgotten to mention — he’s here right now. No going out, no answering the door, no inviting people over; I’ll be back in a couple hours. Ernesto is recharging so try not to bother him if you don’t have to. There are bolts in the fridge and screws in the cabinet. Keep a close eye on Fink if she’s here, she’s a bit rowdy—“ The doorbell rings again and, somewhat flustered, he hurries out of the room. Darrell frowns after him.

”Who would we even invite over?” 

Shannon crosses her arms. “We have bigger things to worry about right now! How are we going to do this on such short notice?!”

The door slides open again and Boxman steps into the doorway, Professor Venormous and Fink behind him. The three bots stand up quickly.

“Fink, uh, Fink is going to be waiting here,” Boxman announces, glancing back at Venomous as he speaks. Venomous raises an eyebrow, scrutinizing the three robots.

”Boxman, I trust that your inventions are well-made, but are they entirely...” he narrows his eyes. “... _capable of independence_?”

”Y-yes! Of course!” Boxman says a bit too loudly. “They’ve never malfunctioned and they’ve always been completely responsible when left alone to make their own decisions!”

Venomous is silent for a moment, looking the three up and down, before nodding once. “Very well, then. I trust that they’ll be able to look after her.” Fink scowls, crossing her arms.

”I don’t needa be looked after!” She exclaims indignantly as Venomous walks her over to the robots. “This is  _dumb!_ You could’a just left me at home.”

”Manners,” Venomous warns her under her breath. She huffs but doesn’t protest further. Venomous heads back towards where Boxman is standing. 

“Okay. Well, uh, be good,” Boxman says somewhat sheepishly to Fink, Raymond, Shannon, and Darrell. Venomous’ gaze turns to the robots before he heads out.

”Don’t feed her after midnight,” he drawls, moments before the doors slide shut. Darrell frowns.

”He’s joking, right? That was just a joke?”

”Who cares about  _that_?” Shannon exclaims over a loud  _clang_ ing sound. “How are we going to do this? We aren’t responsible to look after a child! The last time we were left alone, Raymond climbed one of Father’s machines before getting scared and it took an _hour_  for Ernesto and Jethro to get him to come down!”

”Shut  _up_.”

”My point being — how will we be able to look over a  _child_ for hours??”

”What? She isn’t a kid.”

”Yes she is?”

”Why’s she so weirdly possessive of Professor Venemous, then?”

”She isn’t. Isn’t he like her dad?”

”I don’t think that matters right now,” Raymond cuts in. “We have bigger things to worry about.” Shannon turns to him.

”What?”

”I don’t think her age is important right now, it’s really more her...  _lack of presence_.”

” _What_?!”

Shannon and Darrell both spin around to look where Raymond is turned to. Fink is, indeed, no where to be seen. Darrell sinks down into his chair again, bracing himself on the armrests.

“I can’t handle this right now,” he announces melodramatically. “I’m going to pass out.”

”We’re robots. You can’t pass out.” 

“It’s a figure of speech!”

”Shh,” Raymond hushes them, looking around the room. “Just calm down, maybe we can hear her!”

”Great idea, Raymond! Being introduced and thrown into this situation in a matter of minutes only to have something like  _this_ happen? Calming down sounds reasonable—”

Raymond clamps a hand over Darrell’s mouth. For a few moments, all that can be heard is the the hissing and machinery from the furnace, before a distant metallic _thud_ sounds. 

“Was that her?” Darrell asks, prying Raymond’s hand away. Raymond frowns.

”I don’t know.” Darrell’s shoulders slump.

”Can’t we just let her run around and look for her later?” He asks tiredly. “I can’t do this right now.”

Shannon scoffs. “Of course. I suppose you can’t expect a 1.0 to do a 2.0 or higher’s job.”

”If a 3.0 can climb on top of a machine and get too scared to come back down then a 1.0 can absolutely be overwhelmed by this situation.”

”Stop talking about that,” Raymond groans. “If you two would actually  _help_ , we’d be getting this done a lot faster —  _there_.” He points across the room to a grate on the floor and the vent next to the opposite door open.

”I can’t do this,” Darrell groans.

”Then go upstairs and stop bugging us.”

”No way!”

There’s a quieter clang of metal on metal and they turn to see Raymond kneeling down to peer into the vent. “Shannon, come here a minute, you can see in the dark better than me.” He shifts aside slightly as she joins him on the ground, hunting down to squint into the darkness.

”The vent splits off,” she reports. “She could’ve gone three ways.”

”Wait!” Darrell perks up. “The room upstairs, above the furnace — don’t all the vents end up in the ceiling there? We just have to go up and wait for her!”

”Good thinking.” Raymond stands up, nodding. There’s a distant bumping sound somewhere nearby, evidently from the vents, and a pause before a skittering sound growing more and more distant. The three look around at each other and Shannon sighs.

”I hate children.”

 

 

Fink apparently seems to enjoy taking her time exploring. The robots’ anxiousness wears off after about ten minutes of waiting and is soon replaced by impatience. Shannon crosses her arms, leaning against a wall. “We may have underestimated how many vents there are in this place.”

A whirring sound makes all three of them perk up, looking up at the ceiling before realizing it’s coming from the door. Jethro wheels in, pausing when he sees the others.

”I am Jethro.”

”He already left,” Raymond says. “We were supposed to watch Venomous’s minion but that... isn’t going so well.”

”I am Jethro?”

”Yeah, she got into the vents — how’d you know?”

”I am Jethro.” Darrell’s eyebrows shoot up.

”You heard her? Where?”

”I am Jethro.”

”The hallway? Hold on — shut up,” Shannon says, thrusting out an arm to silence the others. The buzz of her volume being turned up is the only sound for a moment before she puffs out her chest. “ _FINK_.”

The sound reverberates around the room, but no response comes. The four look around at each other in anticipation.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

”What do you want?” A muffled voice yells back. They all visibly relax, shoulders slumping.

”Oh, thank goodness.”

” _Come out! Why are you doing this?”_

”Doing  _what_?” Fink calls back. Shannon rolls her eyes.

” _Scurrying around in the vents like a rat!_ ”

”I’m a  _mouse_ , for your information! You aren’t my master, I don’t have to listen to you and you can’t make me!”

”Fink,” Raymond calls, cupping a hand around his mouth. “Just come down and we won’t tell Veno —  _Professor_ Venomous about this.” There’s a rustling sound from the ceiling and he hurrries on. “He said he wants you to behave tonight, and he’s trusting you to do so. You wouldn’t want him to find out you’re breaking his trust, would you?”

Almost instantaneously, there’s a loud clang and everyone jumps as the vent on the wall behind them falls to the floor and Fink jumps down. “Fine! But I’m not doing this because you told me to!”

Raymond sighs. “Okay, how about - how about we just put on a movie?”

Fink raises an eyebrow. “What movie?”

”...’Tangled?’’

”Deal.” A collective sigh of relief runs through the room as Fink starts towards the door, glancing over her shoulder for them to follow.

”Of course she already knows where the tv is,” Shannon mutters as they begin walking her down the hall, turning her volume back down to normal again. 

Raymond fiddles with the DVD player as the others find seats around the tv on the couch and chairs. Fink seems somewhat ruffled (probably from being blackmailed into obliging) but doesn’t say anything, instead resorting to kicking her feet a couple times after she’s sat down on one of the armchairs.

”This has been exhausting,” Darrell groans as Raymond joins them on the couch. Shannon sighs, nodding and leaning back.

”If Venomous or dad ask, everything went fine.”

”Deal.”

” _Shh_ , the movie’s starting,” Fink cuts in sharply, and they fall silent.

 

Fink, although she seems to enjoy the movie greatly, falls asleep around halfway through. Darrell protests when Shannon tries to turn it off so they leave the movie on, turning down the volume so Fink doesn’t wake up. 

Only about fifteen minutes pass after Fink has fallen asleep before someone calls from downstairs. 

“Shannon, Darrell, Raymond — we’re back!”

Two sets of footsteps grow nearer and after a moment Boxman and Venomous walk into the room, cautiously as if expecting disaster.

”Oh, hi dad,” Shannon says, pausing the movie. “How was your meeting?”

”It went very well, thank you,” Boxman says, beaming at Venomous. Venomous cracks a smile back, stepping into the room.

”Already asleep?” he asks, spotting Fink asleep in the armchair. “That’s funny. She never sleeps until she’s tired herself out.”

”Guess she just really enjoyed staying here,” Darrell says weakly. “She was no trouble.”

”Hm.” Venomous frowns slightly but doesn’t question them any further, instead lifting Fink up into his arms. “Well, nonetheless, your inventions have proved to be quite well-made,” he says, turning to Boxman. “It’s almost like they’re alive — the programming is flawless.” Behind his back, the three wince and Boxman shoots them an apologetic look.

“Thank you,” he says somewhat feebly. “I’m very proud of them and their accomplishments.”

”And rightfully so.” Venomous shifts Fink in his arms as to make sure she doesn’t fall. “I think we should get going.”

”Oh, of course,” Boxman says. “This was a lot of fun! I’m glad we were able to meet up tonight.”

”Likewise.” Venomous steps out of the room again and Boxman follows, saying something about escorting him to the door.

“God, they need to get a room,” Shannon mutters as Boxman and Venomous head out. Raymond sighs, shutting his eyes.

”I hope we never have to do this again.”

Boxman heads back into the room, a grin on his face. “How did you three do with Fink?”

”Great,” Raymond says, a bit too quickly but Boxman doesn’t seem to notice.

”Oh, good! Uh, Professor Venemous and I have been talking and we’ve decided that more... business meetings would be a good idea, so you three are going to have to begin doing this more often. I trust that you can handle that?”

”Of course,” Darrell replies faintly.

”Perfect,” Boxman says, straightening up and heading towards the door. “I’m going to go, uh, check my phone — any missed calls — I’ll see you three later.”

They all say their buds as Boxman hums and leaves the room, a spring in his step.

”I’m not strong enough, I can’t do this,” Darrell exclaims. “I can’t go through with this again!”

”But now we know how to calm her down a bit and get her under control! We’ll be fine, and besides, father is counting on us to be responsible. If he asks more about it, don’t tell him about Fink’s little ‘adventure’ —”

Boxman’s footsteps draw close to the room again and Shannon elbows  Raymond in the side to shut him up. After a moment, Boxman pokes his head into the room, frowning.

”...Why are all the grates off the vents?”


End file.
